Madame did so, and they all went to dinner, Madame
with Calton and Kitty following with Vandeloup.

‘This,’ observed Calton, when they were
all seated at the dinner table, ’is the perfection
of dining; for we are four, and the guests, according
to an epicure, should never be less than the Graces
nor greater than the Muses.’

And a very merry little dinner it was. All four
were clever talkers, and Vandeloup and Calton being
pitted against one another, excelled themselves; witty
remarks, satirical sayings, and well-told stories
were constantly coming from their lips, and they told
their stories as their own and did not father them
on Sydney Smith.

‘If Sydney Smith was alive,’ said Calton,
in reference to this, ’he would be astonished
at the number of stories he did not tell.’

‘Yes,’ chimed in Vandeloup, gaily, ’and
astounded at their brilliancy.’

‘After all,’ said Madame, smiling, ’he’s
a sheet-anchor for some people; for the best original
story may fail, a dull one ascribed to Sydney Smith
must produce a laugh.’

‘Why?’ asked Kitty, in some wonder.

‘Because,’ explained Calton, gravely,
’society goes mainly by tradition, and our grandmothers
having laughed at Sydney Smith’s jokes, they
must necessarily be amusing. Depend upon it, jokes
can be sanctified by time quite as much as creeds.’

‘They are more amusing, at all events,’
said Madame, satirically. ‘Creeds generally
cause quarrels.’

Vandeloup shrugged his shoulders.

‘And quarrels generally cause stories,’
he said, smiling; ’it is the law of compensation.’

They then went to the drawing-room and Kitty and Vandeloup
both sang, and treated one another in a delightfully
polite way. Madame Midas and Calton were both
clever, but how much cleverer were the two young people
at the piano.

‘Are you going to Meddlechip’s ball?’
said Calton to Madame.

‘Oh, yes,’ she answered, nodding her head,
’I and Miss Marchurst are both going.’

‘He is the most charitable man in Melbourne,’
said Gaston, with a faint sneer.

‘Great is Diana of the Ephesians,’ said
Calton, mockingly. ’Because Mr Meddlechip
suffers from too much money, and has to get rid of
it to prevent himself being crushed like Tarpeia by
the Sabine shields, he is called charitable.’